


Swimming Lessons

by dragon_zena



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Team as Family, all 3 of them are trans i don’t rlly mention it but just know that they are okay, but not really, vague spoilers for paris arc and beyond at the very end, zolf/hamid if you squint?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 15:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23713351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragon_zena/pseuds/dragon_zena
Summary: Zolf teaches Sasha how to swim after the train wreck that was traveling over the English channel.
Relationships: Hamid Saleh Haroun al-Tahan & Sasha Racket & Zolf Smith, Sasha Racket & Zolf Smith
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	Swimming Lessons

"Alright, boss?"

Zolf's fingers twitch where they rest on his trident, the closest he'll get to a jump, and he lets out a tired sigh, looking up as Sasha walks over and sits next to him, "Mornin', Sasha."

The waters are calmer, today. Still dangerous, always dangerous, but they gently lap at the shore, lifting sand before letting it settle as it retracts. Zolf doesn't take the time to ponder the poetry that can be found in comparing his god to the domain he controls. He doesn't see the point in doing so; Poseidon cares not of sweet reverence, but of...sacrifice, of explicit proof of loyalty, of _action._

The two of them let the quiet crashing of waves and seafoam settle between them. Zolf and Hamid had begun to pack everything back up a few minutes ago in hopes of getting a move on quicker, but still Zolf finds himself drawn to the ocean, now with Sasha in tow, apparently.

"So," Sasha breaks the silence, rubbing her arm, and she’s so young, Zolf thinks. "Guess I learned how to swim?"

He chuffs, quiet, "If you could call it that. I guess if you can swim in a storm, you can swim anywhere."

"Think I did, ah...pret-ty well for myself, there? I mean...grabbed you for a bit, right? And kept moving?"

"Think we were all really lucky."

"Right," she starts. Pauses and then starts again, "I mean, you're...our boss, right, and you, you serve Poseidon, right, so, like, so it would be important for us to—to know how to actually swim, right? Yeah, because—cause I think I did pretty good, there, but, you know. Room for improvement and everythin'."

“What, you want me to teach you?” Zolf turns to look at her now, but Sasha keeps her face to the channel, and it looks a little pinched, maybe even embarrassed. “Right now?”

“I mean.” She’s definitely flustered, now, speaking slowly and choppily. “I...just…! Think—that. It’s! A good skill to have. Now that I’m not in Other London, anymore. Sooo, yeah! I! Do think. That maybe we could. Do that?”

“...right,” he responds, and it’s not meant to sound as dismissive as it does, but Sasha’s lips thin, so he quickly adds, “That’s reasonable logic, Sasha, I just don’t think that we’ll...have to do something this dire, again. Maybe.”

After a few moments of silence, though, he concedes. “I can at least teach you how to float and tread water. If you want.” 

To anyone with an untrained eye, Sasha’s demeanor doesn’t change, but Zolf sees her brighten up almost immediately, the corners of her mouth relaxing and her eyes regaining that excited gleam that comes with the prospect of learning something and mastering it, of _experiencing._

Zolf huffs, but it sounds more like an airy chuckle.

— — — 

“Are you really going to swim in...what you’re wearing?” Hamid asks warily, and Zolf feels the same as he watches Sasha start walking into the waves once more before pausing, crossing her arms, and raising an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah?”

“Hamid’s got a point,” Zolf starts, gesturing to where his equipment, as well as his shirt and jacket, sit next to Hamid’s small form. At some point between him taking it off and walking into the waters, Hamid had folded the clothes and organized Zolf’s extra items at his side. 

Sasha scoffs, and Hamid continues, pitch raising minutely in uncertainty. “I just _think,_ ” he starts “that maybe this would be easier if you at least took your jacket off?”

Sasha wrinkles her nose, looking away, and Zolf opens his mouth to add something to what Hamid is saying, but then she’s stepping back out of the water and stripping herself of her jacket. She places it and her bag next to Zolf’s before moving to return to the water, and he holds his hand out in a “stop” motion, so she does.

“And the dagger sheaths.”

“Zolf—”

He levels her with a deadpan stare. She makes an exasperated noise and throws her arms into the air before undoing all of her sheaths and placing them down, maintaining frustrated eye contact. 

He looks at the small pile of equipment and notices the lack of daggers and potion bottles, sighs, “And every other weapon that you’ve hidden on your person.”

By the time that Sasha is done ridding herself of extraneous clothing and equipment, there is a large pile, large enough to possibly cover Hamid completely, and she looks distinctly exasperated. “Is that it? Are we good to go now, Zolf, because this is all I’m willing to take off.”

Zolf nods, gently patting the water of the channel, “Good enough.” He looks over to Hamid, who has folded Sasha’s extraneous clothes and is moving to organize everything else she’s put down. He calls out, “‘amid, would you mind, er, getting rid of the water, after this? I mean, if not, well. Little water ne’er hurt anyone.”

He blinks at the two of them before shrugging and smiling politely, “Uh, yes, that’s fine. B-be careful, you two!”

“Will do.”

The two of them begin to slowly drift away from the shore. The sand is soft on Zolf’s bare foot, and with each step, he gently shuffles it, so as to ensure that Sasha, following behind, won’t accidentally step on a jagged rock, among other things. At some point, he becomes less capable of doing such, so he stops. The waves are stronger, here, but not overwhelmingly so.

As impatient as she was to get started, Sasha hesitates the further that she gets into water. She’s already light on her feet, less hardy, so the waves push her around a little more.

“Alright,” Zolf starts, making sure that she’s within an arm’s distance and ignoring how the waves brush through his beard. “First things first, I guess. Don’t just...let the waves push you around like that.”

Sasha’s head snaps down to him, “Why, can it feel fear? Not that I’m scared, but like, okay, it would make sense that water can be sentient because, like, it’s not just water, it’s never _just_ something, right—” 

Zolf blinks, then narrows his eyes, already sensing where she’s going, “Sasha...”

“—and if it’s not _just_ water, right, that’s all well and good, and, like, Other London, right? There are tons of things in Other London that simply aren’t what they seem, not that they’re magic, but like, like, just - just not being what they seem, right, and—” 

“Sasha—”

“—That’s all well and good because there’s got to be something to keep you on your toes, right, so, so, I mean, not that the waves and everythin’ aren’t doing that, s’all well and good because we almost drowned last night, it would make sense—” 

“Sasha!”

“What!”

Zolf telegraphs his movements, gently places his hand on Sasha’s arm. She watches him cautiously but makes no move to stop him or step away, and he meets her eyes. “Do you trust me not to get you killed?” 

She looks away, mouth twisted, and her own glare reflecting back at her through the water. Her reply thrums with muted emotion. “My old management wouldn’t have jumped in after me back there, Zolf. I mean, I just, like.” Sasha’s hands ball into fists, and her voice quivers, “I-I’m here because I. Want to be here. And you made it clear that I can, that I can leave, right, and...And, you know, you...you care. Proper care. ‘S not what I’m used to. But it’s there.”

The two of them take a few seconds to just breathe, and Sasha relaxes minutely, returning his eye contact, and the sun highlights the fire and determination that Zolf finds there. “So, I mean, like, it would be. Proper weird for you to let drown me, now.” She pauses, crossing her arms with a calculating expression. “Unless Poseidon, like, showed up in your dreams last night to tell you to, but, like, I mean, this would be—uh, a Lot of hesitance, if, like, if that were the case.”

Zolf snorts, “No strange dreams from Poseidon.” He takes another moment before nodding and stepping back, chest warm, and he gives her a wonky yet sincere grin. Sasha smiles back, even though it looks more like a grimace, “Great talk, boss.”

“Yeah,” he finally looks away, crossing his arms. “So. Floating.”

“Floating,” she echoes. 

“So, basically, you, uh. Lie down?”

“On the water?”

“Yeah. With, erm. Your arms out like this.” He holds his arms straight out. “And you, uh. Just. Lie down.”

Sasha proceeds to perform a trust fall with the water. Without the trust part. 

It goes about as well as one would expect; immediately after disappearing underneath the water, she grabs Zolf and accidentally yanks both of them under. He pulls both himself and Sasha back above the surface before she has the chance to panic.

Five minutes later finds Sasha sitting sulkily with the sea up to her chest, ink-black hair plastered to her forehead. She looks like a cat that’s been sprayed with a tap. Zolf gently pats her shoulder, grimacing.

“I should have probably specified a little more,” he says, and she makes an unimpressed expression that he chooses to ignore. “Starting from a sitting position might’ve been a better idea than standing. You can just...lie back and lift your bottom half to be equal, with - with your torso. I can hold your back up, if you want.”

“I can do it,” she says, already beginning to lay back and using her arms as leverage. He nods, taking a small step back. “When can I - with my arms?”

“Take a deep breath, first.”

“Why, am I gonna go under again?” She turns to look at him, and he calmly shakes his head, and so, with narrowed eyes, she takes a deep breath, holds it, and lifts her arms up and away.

Just like that, Sasha is floating. 

Zolf nods to himself, “Alright, then. Slowly breathe out. You don’t have to hold your breath or anythin’, that was just to get you started.”

Sasha does as instructed, stares up at him as he steps closer, eyes wide like a child’s. He flashes her a quick thumbs up. 

“Well, you’re floatin’.”

She makes an affirmative sound, as though talking will single-handedly cause her to sink.

“And, er, I guess, um. Since you’re here, uh. I already told Hamid, last night, but you were...passed out, so. Thank you. For coming with me.”

“‘S alright, boss,” she slowly turns her head away. “Thanks for diving in after me. That was—that was pretty nice.” She’s smiling a little. “Even if I did have to...swim up and…”

Zolf snorts, crossing his arms, “It’s the thought that counts.”

“And the, like, the hovering stepping stone thing that saved our lives that counts, as well.”

“Also handy.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

After a brief silence, they start snickering amongst each other. It doesn’t last long, mainly because Sasha accidentally dunks herself under the water again and snorts salt water up her nose, but it’s...nice.

He lets her float around for a little longer before moving on to treading water. She’s way better at that than floating, always agile and good at controlling her body, and she learns fairly quickly, so then he helps her with actual swimming, and she picks that up quickly, too. She spends the rest of her time in the water swimming circles around Zolf, and he’s so impressed and fond that he allows it with no real fuss.

Before long, it’s about noon, and Sasha’s stomach rumbles, so they decide to wrap it up.

As the two of them make their way back to the shore, soaked and in good spirits, Hamid waves at them from his spot next to the neat-arranged clothes and equipment. He looks as though he’d been napping. “Hey, guys! Looks like it went well?”

“That it did,” Zolf responds, wringing his beard and casually pointing to where Sasha has somehow reappeared behind Hamid, already beginning to put her jacket back on. Hamid squeaks, turning to look at her, and Zolf grins wryly. “Quick learner, that one.”

Sasha looks subtly smug, proud of herself. 

“Oh, that’s great, Sasha,” Hamid says, standing up and dusting himself off before remembering prestidigitation. He also sounds proud. “I guess you’re a natural, then!”

“I told you Poseidon favors me,” Sasha replies, returning her daggers to their appropriate places. There is a brief pause before her head snaps towards Zolf, “Oh! Does that mean that your god is, like, alright with you, now?”

Hamid is currently prestidigitating the water out of Zolf’s clothing and politely avoiding looking at his bare torso, although his eyes occasionally jump to the twin scars lining his chest, “I-I mean, he got—he got his trident back—”

Zolf hums, speaking simultaneously as he watches Hamid pull out his handkerchief, “I think so?”

“—so that’s probably a good sign,” Hamid finishes, gesturing with the cloth. Zolf smiles at him in thanks, and Hamid splutters before gently patting him on the shoulder with a flustered expression and shuffling away to help Sasha, who watches him with a curious eye.

“That’s a lot of good signs,” she says, wondrously, and the two of them agree.

In a few hours, Zolf and Sasha will be seated in the backseat of a cart powered by an angry elemental and driven by one of two overly competitive old women, and Sasha will have the time of her life, and Zolf will let the spark of fondness and familial love bloom further alongside the swoop of adrenaline that each swivel of the car ignites in the pit of his stomach.

Even later, and he will flawlessly put her organs back into her body, and later still, temporarily heal her from a magical degenerative disease. And he will tell her that she will be safe with him, and a very large part of Sasha will believe him, even when he leaves, because he’s important to her, and she trusts him, no matter where he chooses to go.

Zolf won’t get to see if Sasha ever makes use of her newfound swimming skills, and he never gets the chance to ask her, but this will be one of the moments that he will think back on with a soft, wistful smile.

**Author's Note:**

> This took way too long for it only to be around 2k words! I'm glad that it's finished, and I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> If you'd like to follow me on social media, this is my [twitter](https://twitter.com/Dragon_Zena) and this is my [tumblr](www.dragon-zena.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Thank you for reading!!!


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